


Ain't No Howl Back Girl

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alpha Victor Nikiforov, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Neighbors, Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri Are Best Friends, Werewolf Victor Nikiforov, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26420782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: The quarantine did alot of weird things to alot of peopleFor Yuri's neighbors, apparently, it inspired them to start howling every nightHow weird do things have to be for that to be thebeginningof the story?
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 3
Kudos: 94





	Ain't No Howl Back Girl

**Author's Note:**

> I found this- https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/fsvih7/brb_time_for_my_nightly_howl_session_with_the/ and like any responsible person, I had to fic it

It was kind of... _eerie_... being in a new house all alone

Yuri was just glad that he had his dog with him, that helped to ease the strangeness of it all

He wished that his roommate was there already, what he wouldn't give for Phichit to be there, chattering and playing music and making the endeavor feel fun and light-hearted like it was supposed to, not so quiet, so _still_

But the travel restrictions hadn't been fully lifted yet, his best freind was stuck at home in Thailand wile Yuri moved into their new place all alone

Damn plague....

Sighing quietly, he finished putting away the toiletries in his new bathroom and leaned down to snuggle with the dog who loyally kept by his side...

Or atleast, that was the plan, before Vicchan's ears perked up and he started barking, leaping over to the bath tub and pawing at it with desperation

"Vicchan? What's wrong?"

Although... now that Yuri was paying attention.... he _did_ hear something...

Frowning a little, he stepped into the tub and opened the bay window, his heart skipping a beat as the sound of _howling_ filled his ears

_Wolves_ howling

It... it _had_ to be wolves, Yuri had watched enough National Geographic to know that by now, but at the same time.... it also _couldn't_ be wolves, right?

There were no wolves in Atlanta... right?

No, there couldn't be

And yet.... he knew that he heard howling

And not like dogs either, he had _heard_ dogs howl before

These weren't dogs

~+~

_"Wolves?"_

"Uh-huh,"

_"Are you sure?"_

"'Wolves or coyotes, maybe," Yuri relented, squirming a little in his seat

"I guess that would make more sense, I know there are coyotes in Georgia.... but there are just so _many_ of them, there must have been atleast a dozen,"

_"Wow..... damn, all the things I might've expected from moving and I didn't see that coming....."_

"Yeah. me neither,"

Atleast Phichit was just as surprised as he was

_"Maybe it was just some freak occurrence that only happens once in a blue moon, I mean... a dozen coyotes in a little suburban neighborhood? That doesn't exactly happen every day,"_

"Yeah.. you're right Phich," Yuri agreed, his shoulders sagging a little as he stared at the computer screen

"I just hope you'll get back home soon,"

_"I know,"_ Phichit promised with a soft, somber smile

_"Just a couple more weeks ok?"_

"Yeah," Yuri sighed

"A couple more weeks,"

~+~

For the next several days, Yuri listened to the sound of howling.... _whatever they were_

He had started paying attention to it too, and realized in utter amazement that they seemed to be on a sort of... _schedule_.....

It was every night at 7:30 exactly- _religiously_

Never early and never late

After expressing this to Phichit, his best freind laughed and suggested that Yuri listen throughout the rest of the night to see if the howling persisted further

It never did

Yuri was starting to get mildly concerned by this point, what was that all about?

What was howling and why were they- whatever they were- doing it on a _schedule_?

It made no sense...

"Come on Vicchan _please_ , just choose a spot,"

Checking his watch, Yuri cursed under his breath

It was already seven o'clock, he usually didn't take Vicchan on walks this late, especially considering that the dog was also papper trained, but he had gotten home much later than anticipated and it really wasn't fair for him to force Vicchan to stay inside all night so...

"Got plans tonight?"

Jerking his head up, Yuri turned his attention to the beautifull stranger in front of him, his face turning red

"H-Huh?"

"Well you're checking your watch in the middle of a dog walk, I assume you're anticipating something?"

The man in front of him was gorgeous

He had beautifully soft looking silver hair, icey blue eyes, and a charming thousand-watt smile and an accent- and he had a dog, a poodle even, a silver Standard Poodle who seemed to make very fast freinds with Vicchan

Yuri was instantly in love

"N-No... I mean.. yes.. but.... well.... Batwoman comes on in an hour,"

Wow, that excuse was lame even by his standards

"Mmm yes, but it's just barely after seven, you have plenty of time, unless you're truly a remarkably slow walker ofcourse,"

"No, I just.... well.. I wanted to be home before seven-thirty, have time to call my freind and wish him a goodnight, you know?"

"Ah, I see," the stranger nodded, smiling warmly at this

"You seem to be new to the neighborhod, may I ask how long you've been here?"

"O-Oh um, about a week now, I just moved into the lavender house on top of the hill,"

"Ooh what a good choice! I love that house!" the stranger beamed, his eyes seeming to light up

"It's so pretty, I've been wondering who was going to take it, do you live there alone?"

"Well... technically no, but my roommate is stuck in Thailand for another week or so, so I'm there by myself right now,"

Why was he telling him that?

He shouldn't be telling a total stranger that, should he?

"Ah, that must be very lonely, I'm sorry," the silver-haired man frowned sympathetically

"It's fine, it is what it is," Yuri shrugged back

"Well other than being alone, how are you liking the neighborhood so far?"

"I really like it, it seems nice and quiet, although..."

Should he..?

"Although...?" the stranger echoed curiously

"Well.... are there any wolves or coyotes that live around here?"

"Wolves or coyotes? No... why do you ask?"

_No_?

Then what was Yuri hearing every night?

Was he hallucinating?

"W-Well I hear howling every night, in fact, I hear it at the same _time_ every night... .the _exact_... same time...."

"Seven-thirty right?"

Oh, maybe he _had_ heard it then

"Y-Yes, seven-thirty!"

And then the stranger did something Yuri really hadn't expected- he started to laugh

...Why was he laughing?

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because, silly, that isn't wolves or coyotes, that's us, your neighbors!"

.......

wut

" _What_? Why are you _howling_ every night!?"

"Well it's a bit of a long story," the stranger noted, tapping his chin

"You see, we, as a neighborhood, are all very close, we used to have nightly meetings with eachother in the park outside the neighborhood, but when quarantine hit a few months ago and the park closed, we had to figure out something else to do to stay close to eachother instead,"

Yur was honestly a little bewildered that the answer seemed to be, in equal parts, so simple and so bizarre

"...Did you.... ever think of video calls?" he asked slowly

"You know someone suggested that, but have you ever been on a video call with multiple people? It's far too difficult and annoying, not to mention unimpressively boring,"

...Unimpressively boring....

Yeah, that tracked

"So you just..... _howl_ to eachother....?"

"Yep, as a way of making sure everyone is still alright without anything that requires more fuss,"

"Well how do you know if a howler is missing?"

God, had he really just said that..?

"Oh trust me, we can tell,"

Yuri didn't want to say it, but if that was accurate, then that was a little sad, how well must you know what a pack of howling morons sounds like if you're able to identify when someone is missing....?

"That's.............. interesting,"

"Isn't it!? We're pretty proud of it, why don't you join us?"

....wut

"What?"

"Well you _are_ part of this neighborhood now," he reasoned

"It just seems right to invite you,"

Yuri hated that that actually made some amount of sense

"But-... but I mean... it isn't quarantine anymore... so why do you guys even still do it...?"

"It's just a nice way to keep up with eachother, to remind eachother that none of us are alone, and that no matter how hard things get, we still have eachother, we are still a community who love and care for eachother, the world around us may change, but that never will,"

...Oh....

"I understand if it's too weird for you, but.... well you know when we do it, so, if you ever want to join in, you're welcome,"

Yuri nodded slowly, his face a little red as he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear

"I should let you get back to your walk though, sorry for the intrusion,"

Intrusion..?

No no no no-

"W-Wait! I mean... you... it isn't an intrusion, you can stay," Yuri blurted out, his face now as red as a cherry, but if the silver-haired surely-a-supermodel minded, he certainly didn't express it

"Really!? _Klassno_!! I'm Viktor, by the way, Viktor Nikiforov, what's your name?"

"Yuri, Yuri Katsuki," the brunette answered, holding his free hand out and feeling his heart leap against his ribcage when Viktor gently took his hand

"Yuri? What a lovely name, I have a freind named Yuri,"

"Oh?"

"Mmm, he's from Russia though, as am I,"

Ah, so Yuri had pinned that accent correctly

"Really? Huh, I didn't know Yuri was a multilingual name, I guess I never really thought of it being used outside of Japan,"

"Ooh is that where you're from?"

"It is actually, Hasetsu,"

The conversation flowed so easily from that point on, Yuri hadn't even noticed when they got back to the house twenty-five minutes later

He kind of didn't want to go back inside but.... he just resolved to take Vicchan out at seven o'clock again tommorrow night and hope to see Viktor again then

Ofcourse, that wasn't the only decision he had to make

By the time he was inside and had taken Vicchan's leash and harness off, his shoes neatly placed by the door, it was 7:28, and he found himself wondering if he was going to participate in The Neighborhood Howl- he wasn't sure if they actually called it that, but for now, that was what he would dub it

He found himself heading upstairs, still debating the issue

7:29

Once in the bedroom, he opened the window, taking a deep breath of fresh night air, and waiting

7:30

As per usual, the howling began

It started off slow and steady, with just one voice, followed quickly by several more, before beginning to climb towards a crescendo, and Yuri....

Yuri must have lost his damn mind, because he found himself taking in a deep breath, and--...

_"Awooooooo!!!!!"_

God, even to his own ears it sounded bad, it sounded _horrible_ , what was _wrong_ with him?

And yet, the howling seemed to pick up even more after that, he might have been crazy but he could have sworn he heard people becoming more enthusiastic as they continued to howl, and Yuri, belting out a few more howls of his own, slowly began gaining confidence

There was something strangely freeing about just.... letting loose and howling into the wind, especially when joined by a chorus of other howlers, and by the time the voices finally started to die down, Yuri found himself feeling oddly at peace, the anxiety that usually plagued him was quiet, atleast for a moment or two, and he simply felt giddy and.... _free_

Maybe that was the real reason why Viktor and the others in the neighborhood continued their howling, maybe it was the freedom...

Well, for now Yuri wouldn't debate on it, he was just happy to have it around, for however long he could

~+~

The thing is, Yuri neglected to tell Phichit about the actual story regarding the neighborhood howling, and he _certainly_ hadn't told him that Yuri himself was now participating in it, so when Phichit finally got back from Thailand, he was in for a bit of a shock

"Ugghhh I never knew I had this many jackets, why would I need this many jackets?"

Yuri only chuckled as he helped his roommate put away a few pairs of sweatpants, watching over his shoulder as Phichit shook his head but all the same grabbed a hanger for yet another aforementioned jacket

"Maybe you just get cold easily,"

"Maybe... I tend to think it's the aesthetic though,"

That was equally possible, Phichit was a fairly fashion concious person, in his own interpretation of fashion, atleast

The sound of his mini alarm going off took Yuri away from his task though, much to Phichit's surprise, as the baker moved towards the window and pushed it open

"Um... Yuri....?"

Surely enough, just a minute later-...

_"A-A-Awooooo!!!!!!"_

Phichit stared at his roommate as if he had just grown another head

_"Awoooooo!!!!!"_

Compared to the others in the neighborhood, Yuri's howl was still notably fresh, still new and unrefined, he'd yet to find that deep velvety smoothness that the others seemed to come by naturally, but he was getting better

Phichit, meanwile, was of the opinion that he was witnessing a psychological break down of some kind

"Yuri..... are you.... _howling_.... with the wolves....?"

Yuri glanced over his shoulder, surprised at first, and then quickly shifting to embarrassed

"O-Oh no no no!! I'm howling with our _neighbors_ ,"

...Wow, somehow that just made it worse

"...Excuse me?"

Thus, Yuri had to explain the entire sorted tale about the neighbors and the howling and _Viktor_ \- who he had most definitely mentioned more than a few times over the last couple of weeks- and how Yuri had decided on a wim to join them and now thought it to be so freeing and pleasant that he just did it for the purpose of enjoying it

"That... is quite a story," Phichit noted when it was over

"Y-Yeah.. I know it sounds really weird but-"

"But if it makes you happy then it really doesn't matter how weird it sounds," Phichit insisted, smiling warmly as he let his hand curl around Yuri's, giving it a reassuring squeeze

Yuri smiled back, a little red in the face but happy all the same

"I guess starting tommorrow I'll have to try this howling thing too then huh?"

"Really?"

"Yeah! It sounds like fun to me! Weird, but still fun, and most fun things _are_ weird when you really think about them,"

Well, Phichit certainly had a point there

"Ok, I'll tell Viktor on our walk tommorrow that you're joining in, I wouldn't want the others getting concerned because there's a new howler,"

"Do you really think they'd be able to tell?"

"Oh, I'm _sure_ of it,"

"Huh..." Phichit muttered, probably as... "curious".... about the entire thing as Yuri had first been

If anything, that just made Yuri more excited for him to get involved, opening up this new activity to his freind gave Yuri more happiness than he admittedly thought it would, and he was greatly looking forward to the next howl

~+~

There was just one little problem...

When the next day arrived, Viktor didn't attend their evening walk

Ok, Yuri figured, not _too_ strange, he wouldn't claim that he and Viktor knew eachother so well yet that that should be cause for alarm and there were plenty of perfectly reasonable explanations for why he may not have come along that evening

Perhaps he was held up with a phone call or a work matter, maybe Makkachin just happened to need to go out earlier that night for some reason, maybe he wasn't home yet- stuck in traffic or something, or maybe he had a minor emergency to attend to

Hell he may have fallen asleep for all Yuri knew, the point was, there was no reason to get worried

....

_And **yet**_....

"I'm sure he's fine," Phichit promised as Yuri paced a hole in the bedroom floor

"You seriously have nothing to worry about,"

"I know,"

"You say you know and yet you're trying to pace a hole into the floor,"

Yuri looked up, his expression clearly perturbed, wich only caused his roommate to sigh good-naturedly and gently place a hand on his shoulder

"If you're that worried, then just howl at him- literally, try to see if you can tell weather or not he's howling and then call him to see what's up,"

Yeah... yeah that was a good point, and it was just about time for the howl anyway

So Yuri waited by the window, his mental alarm clock going off at the exact same time the clock struck seven-thirty, and released his nightly howl

There was just one little problem

No one else howled back

It was at that moment that Yuri went from a howl to a scream

~+~

"I assure you Miss Baravinskya, your godson will be perfectly safe in our pack,"

The elder wolf seemed none too impressed, her expression stern and unamused

"Do you now, Mr. Nikiforov? And how can you insure such a thing when the entirety of my pack nearly failed at such a task? Your's is no stronger and certainly no bigger, and yet-"

The sound of a howl broke through their negotiations, followed quickly by a scream

"Yuri..."

Viktor didn't hesitate, he was on his feet in a second and shifting into his wolf form barely a moment later, charging through the door that Chris had quickly opened for him

All thoughts of Lilia and her godson and the negotiations were out of his head, all he cared about was Yuri

He sped through the neighborhood with a small troop of wolves flanking him, his heart racing as he made his way to Yuri's house, spotting the open window and shifting mostly back to his human form, sans his glowing eyes, sharp fangs, and long claws

A snarl left him as he jumped onto the first tree branch in sight, copying this motion twice before swinging into Yuri's open window, half shifted and entirely naked

"Yuri!? Are you alright?! What happened!?"

Yuri locked eyes with him, and he was.... seemingly fine...?

For a good ten or fifteen seconds, they just stared at eachother in total silence, before Yuri screamed again and quickly yanked a blanket off of the bed, holding it in front of Viktor's waist

"Yuri, the dude's gone Wolfman in your bedroom and your first concern is that his dick is out? That's.... that's _wow_ , Yuri, even for you,"

Viktor glanced over his shoulder at the sound of the stranger's voice and blinked, stars in his eyes, as the snap of a camera went off

....What..... the fuck..... was his life...?

~+~

"I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you that our howl was off tonight," Viktor winced uncomfortably, his nose wrinkling a little and his expression nearly pained

"I-It's ok... it wasn't your responsibility...."

"But I made you worry," Viktor said softly, reaching out to gently cup his hand over Yuri's, stroking his thumb over the back of the brunette's hand

"I made you worry too, sorry,"

Apparently when Viktor heard him howling, his instincts kicked in and he just assumed that Yuri was calling for help, the scream of his name that had followed didn't help that assumption

With Yuri not actually being a member of his pack, it had just slipped Viktor's mind to warn him that they wouldn't be howling this particular night due to having a meeting scheduled with an important foreign Alpha- a concept that, along with werewolfism in general, Yuri was struggling to wrap his head around

He had also never actually told Yuri that howling was as much a call for assistance as it was a form of communication, he hadn't thought it necessary as, you know, once again, Yuri was human and therefore decidedly _not_ pack

So that's how it went down

That was how Yuri found a Russian Alpha werewolf standing claws-out and naked in his bedroom with a pack of other werewolves stalking around his house outside ready to rip into someone, wile Yuri himself had just wanted to talk to-.. er... howl at?- his new freind and maybe kinda sorta crush of a neighbor

It was all a pretty big wreck honestly

"You would be best off erasing their memories," Lilia commented easily, her expression still unwelcoming and her posture defensive, it had taken several minutes just to convince her to sit down in Yuri's living room, but she looked about as pleased with that as she would have if Yuri had offered her antifreeze to drink

"Y-You can do that?" Yuri asked quietly

"Well, _I_ can't, but witches can, and I know a few of them who I can buy a memory eraser from,"

Yuri looked uneasy, and Viktor reached over and very gently wrapped his hand around the brunette's again

"But I won't, I trust you Yuri, maybe I shouldn't, humans are....-"

"Not very trustworthy," Yuri concluded quietly, and for a moment, they shared a mutually pained look of understanding and agreement

Viktor didn't know what Yuri's pain with humanity was, Yuri didn't know what Viktor's was either, although he could venture a guess

"But you.... you feel like... you feel like pack, Yuri, you have a peice of my heart already, you are... you are a remarkable human being, what other person would just.. howl out a window with their neighbors for no reason other than to communicate? It's like... like maybe you should have been born a wolf or something, I don't know... but.. do you know what makes a wolf pack strong?"

"I.. would assume strong wolves?"

Viktor gave his head a single shake, squeezing Yuri's hand a little tighter

"Rudi Kipper said 'the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf', I may not agree with many of the man's veiws but I agree with that much, a pack will always be weak- no matter how physically strong the wolves within it are- if there's no loyalty, if there's no community, werewolves are a tribalist species, if our tribe is filled with lackluster communication and disinterest in staying together, it will crumble immediately, in the end it doesn't matter how strong the individual wolf is physically, or what species a pack is made up of, if there's that community value within it, it will be strong, and that's something that few humans understand, except, obviously, for yourself,"

"Is there... something you're trying to allude to me... Viktor?"

Viktor smiled a little bit more warmly, his fingers looping through Yuri's

"I want you to be my pack Yuri, human or wolf, whatever you choose, I think we'll be stronger with you, and I think you'll be stronger with us,"

Yuri should have asked about three billion questions

What did becoming pack entail? What would he need to do? How would things change? Could he become a wolf? If so, how? Was it dangerous? What did Viktor need so much strength for anyway? So many questions...

But in the end, all he said was- "Yes,"

Beaming, Viktor practically launched himself over the coffee table, much like an excited puppy, and caught Yuri in a kiss, his expression enthusiastic and utterly blooming with happiness

"B-But.." Yuri mumbled as he pulled back, his face a little pink, glancing over his shoulder at Phichit, who had been keeping a respectfull distance all this time in a chair a few feet away, on his phone and pretending not to eavesdrop

He had already deleted the picture of Viktor when he realized that the wolf's appearance wasn't just make up

"Ah yes your roommate, well it seems foolish to try to erase his memories at this point, especially with you becoming pack now, you'd have alot of sneaking around to do if we went through all that trouble, but I'll be keeping a close eye on him, just until we're... used to eachother,"

"I'm cool with that," Phichit called from his chair, not even looking up from his phone as he gave Viktor a thumb's up

The wolf chuckled warmly, smiling at the two of them

"Then it's settled,"

"All but one thing," Lilia noted tensely, her expression tense

"Mr. Nikiforov, you're really allowing two strange humans into your pack with such ease?"

"I am," Viktor said firmly

"I assure you that your godson-"

"Yes, I've heard your assurances before, the last time I asked you how exactly you could promise me my godson's safety, but we were interrupted before you could answer, I know now what your answer is,"

Viktor blinked, clearly surprised by that

"You do?"

"Yes, it's charector, Mr. Nikiforov, what your pack lacks in size or physical strength, it makes up for in charector, you charged into battle headfirst to protect someone who isn't even officially part of your pack with a trail of wolves following after you, without question nor command, I can only assume that you would take similar care in protecting my godson's life,"

"Ofcourse I would," Viktor said seriously

"It seems we have something of an agreement then, I'll have Yura brought over in three days to finish the transfer, but know this Mr. Nikiforov, if so much as a hair on that boy's head is harmed, no force in any world will stop me from decimating all parties responsible, including you,"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Viktor confirmed seamlessly

Lilia gave a firm nod and stood up, not bothering with any farewells before exiting the house, leaving Viktor to sigh with releif and burry his face in his hands

"Um... what just happened?" Yuri asked slowly

"I'll explain later," Viktor promised, smiling a little as he gently took Yuri's hand

"For now, there's much to be done for the two of us,"

"Yeah ofcourse, just.... can we start with one thing in particular?"

"Ofcourse Yuri, what is it?"

"Getting you back in your own clothes?"

Viktor blinked, glancing down reflexively at the size-too-small shirt and sweatpants he had donned from Yuri's dresser, a laugh escaping him seconds later

"Ofcourse Yuri, ofcourse,"

~+~

_Awooooooooooo!!!_

With a loud groan and a roll of his eyes, Yuri Plisetsky put his hands over his ears, growling under his breath

"Would you fuckers SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!?"

He knew it wouldn't work, it never did

His... _Alpha_.... and his pack of dimwits seemed to think of howling as a goddamn Olympic sport, like if they didn't practice enough they'd get rusty or some shit

It was on his last nerve and he _refused_ to participate

In Russia, howling was done as a thing of pure necessity, it was never to be mistreated or done inappropriately, it was meant as a distress call _only_ , so he wasn't going to be howling unless he himself were in distress

And he certainly didn't see _that_ happening any time soon

The hunters who had been on his tail in Russia six months ago hadn't followed him here yet after all, and he was losing faith that they ever would

_Good_...

"What _is_ that?"

Turning around, the blonde quirked a brow at the beautifull human behind him

A little taller than Yura himself, with dark hair in an undercut, dark eyes, and a square jaw

...

Yura's heart may have skipped a beat

Good thing Viktor and his dumb puppy of a fiance` weren't around to hear that

"The cry of idiocy," he replied simply, earning a confused look from the stranger

"I'm at the end of the block, you going my way?"

The man nodded, quiet, and Yura moved to stand beside him, gesturing him to follow

"C'mon then, I'll explain it to you on the way home,"

Another howl sounded, and he shivered, a small smirk resting on his face

It may be annoying to listen to, but if Viktor and his dumb howling managed to get him a chat with their newest neighbor, who Yura had been wanting to talk to for the past two weeks?

Well, he supposed it wasn't _too_ bad then....


End file.
